Three keep their name in the draft

On Tuesday, three players decided officially to keep their names in the NBA draft pool.

Louisville's Terrence Jennings, Georgia Tech's Iman Shumpert, and Michigan's Darius Morris will all be forgoing the rest of their collegiate eligibility to remain in this year's draft. Here's a look at how those decision will affect their now-former teams:


Terrence Jennings, Louisville: Jennings decision to leave was probably a smart one. The Louisville junior has an NBA body and NBA athleticism, but he is a long way from proving he has an NBA post game. The problem with playing for a team like Louisville, however, is that he likely won't get many opportunities to showcase his ability in the post next season.

Rick Pitino likes to run. He likes to have his team's pressure the ball in the full court, get out in transition, and fire away from beyond the arc. His big men -- especially in the last few seasons -- have been asked to play the role of shot blockers and offensive rebounders. Jennings isn't going to be isolated on the post too often, which would mean that he won't have the opportunity to showcase any improvements he makes. And in the eyes of the NBA, if you're not improving, you're regressing with age.

Louisville will be alright next season. They return quite a bit of talent in their back court -- Kyle Kuric, Peyton Siva, Chris Smith -- and could see a couple of injured players return to the rotation in Jared Swopshire and Raheem Buckles. Throw in the emergence of Gorgui Dieng and an excellent recruiting class -- Wayne Blackshear, Zach Price, Chane Benahan -- and the Cardinals are loaded with talent.


Darius Morris, Michigan: Michigan will get hurt the worst of these three teams. The Wolverines were young and promising, especially down the stretch of last season. With essentially the entire roster returning from a team that won eight of their last 11 games to make the NCAA Tournament, and then came a Morris floater away from forcing overtime with Duke in the second round, much was to be expected of Michigan next season.

But Morris was the most important piece. He averaged over 15 ppg and almost 7 apg. He was the team's best scorer and best creator. He was the reason that players like Stu Douglass and Zak Novak were able to get open looks from beyond the arc. He's the reason Jordan Morgan got as many easy dunks around the rim. He was hands down the best playmaker, handing out quadruple the assists of anyone else on the team.

Without Morris, Tim Hardaway, Jr, is going to have to step up and become a star as a sophomore if John Beilein fancies the idea of getting to the NCAA Tournament again.


Iman Shumpert, Georgia Tech: Shumpert was far and away the best player for the Yellow Jackets last season. He led the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals, which is a tough thing to do for a 6'5" guard.

If Shumpert had returned to Tech, things would have looked promising for the Yellow Jackets. While they only won five ACC games a year ago, they will still return six of their top eight scorers with Shumpert keeping his name in the draft. Glen Rice, Jr, and Brian Oliver both showed the potential to be big-time players, while Mfon Udofia should be a solid point guard to replace Shumpert.

Also joining the Aztecs with be Brandon Reed, a transfer from Arkansas State that averaged 15.1 ppg as a freshman. The issue for the Yellow Jackets, however, does not involve their back court. Kammeon Holsey and Daniel Miller return up front, but Brian Gregory will not have much scoring punch at his disposal inside.